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Molaverdi Joins Artists’ Charity for Homeless

Vice-President and Head the Center for Women and Family Affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, has joined the charity movement, ‘The Eighth Seen’, initiated by a group of artists to provide shelters for the homeless.

Pointing to the necessity of creating a culture that enhances contribution to benevolent acts, Molaverdi said: “The problem of the homeless can’t be easily resolved, and artists should create awareness of people’s responsibility towards the underprivileged.”

She suggested holding a meeting between artists and Eshaq Jahangiri, first vice-president, and relevant officials to address problems of the shelterless.

Artist Reza Kianian said socio-cultural movements in charity have increased. Of the estimated 15,000 homeless in Tehran, he said: “One-third of them are women.” This is while Toloo Bi-Neshanha Society, a Tehran-based charity, provides shelter for homeless men only,” ILNA reported.

The movement initiated by people should be supported by the government. The increase in the number of homeless “is a threat to society since they are prone to dangerous illnesses and drug addiction.”

Creating Awareness

The movement aims to provide housing in the large number of abandoned buildings. “We suggest that veteran artists help promote awareness and create a culture among the citizens to accept the presence of the homeless in their neighborhood,” he said.

Organizing the homeless is a task of the ministries of interior, health and labor, and it would be useful to discuss the issue with the ministers.

Following a philanthropic gesture by renowned Iranian film director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad - who donated her Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) - won for her movie ‘Tales’ - to support homeless people, other popular artists have also put up their awards for auction to raise funds and help in the construction of shelters for the homeless. The auction is organized by the Toloo Bi-Neshanha Society that also prepares and provides food for the homeless.

In Farsi, ‘Sarpanah’ means shelter and ‘Haft Seen’ is the table set by Iranians during Nowruz or the Persian New Year. The ‘Haft Seen’ table includes seven items all starting with the Persian alphabet ‘seen’ (pronounced in the same way as the alphabet S in English). Each item has a symbolic meaning.